I am doing some research regarding the assets held by the Average American household. Specifically, I’m interested in how much wealth the Average American has accumulated and which assets account for that wealth. I thought the information that I found is interesting enough to become it’s own brief, bullet-ed blog post.
Please treat these financial statistics as entertainment only. They should not be used as a barometer to gauge how successful you are relative to your fellow Americans. Remember…
“You should only compare yourself to your former self.” – random old, wiseman
Without further ado, here are some:
Interesting Financial Statistics for the Average American
[Data source: The Urban Institute (2004), Statistics Brain, Federal Reserve, US Census Bureau, and the IRS (2013)]
Most common financial asset in the US: checking and savings accounts
- Percent of Americans that do not have a bank account: 7.7%
- Median dollars in these accounts: $3,800
- Percent of Americans with no savings at all: 25%
Most valuable financial asset in the US: a retirement account
- Percentage of all families with a retirement account: 50%
- Percent of working Americans not saving for retirement: 40%
- Median dollars in retirement accounts: $35,000
Most valuable non-financial asset in the US: a home
- Percentage of all families that own a home: 65%
- Average American home value: $160,000
- Average amount owed on home mortgage: $95,000
Readers, do you find these statistics interesting or concerning? Are any of the figures higher or lower than you expected?
[…] Interesting Financial Statistics for the Average American — Did you know that 7.7% of Americans don’t have a bank account? Or that 40% of working Americans aren’t saving for retirement? Sad but true. […]